Carpe Diem Haiku Kai’s tan renga challenge to add 2 lines to this classic haiku…
old pond
a frog jumps in
sound of water
© Basho (Tr. Chèvrefeuille)
hear ker-ploosh of Basho’s frog
… haiku kai ripples outward
© lynn__
a mother’s love
26 Nov 2019 9 Comments
A memorial haibun on theme of gratitude for dVerse poets pub…
I keep precious photos and letters. They were in love. Mommy, a happy socialite, married handsome Navy pilot. Small town girl found fun living in big city. We shared a Valentine birthday. She doted on me, her firstborn. Our bond was tight but unraveled when asthma flared with another pregnancy and took her life’s breath. I wore her lace wedding dress and ring.
I hold dear memories and momentos. We needed love. Mom, a quiet beauty, married indebted widower. Farm girl (from same small town) found work in big city. We shared Daddy’s heart. She accepted me as her first child. Nightmares and tantrums threatened to unravel us but she patiently parented until we grew into love’s tight bond. She gave me the best brother and education.
My heart swells with gratitude for each mother’s unique and vital influence on my life. I carry both of them in my heart and thank God for graciously gifting me (twice) with a mother’s love!
lone tree uprooted
memories of former days
wood warms us by fire
broken chords
19 Nov 2019 15 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: alabaster, carousel, dishwasher, elbows, heartsong, love, work
she stares at him
elbows akimbo and
painfully pointed, as
white alabaster shall
shatter to tiny tinkling
shards of heartsong
he doesn’t notice,
yet if never, how it
feels to desire, aching
for words; arms bent
to work longer, those
urgent cows in kilts
piano sails fast clipper
lingers on guitar strum
dishwasher humming
wet wipers swish back
and forth; passengers
on dismal carousel ride
A free verse surrealistic poem for dVerse Poetics.
do you know?
22 Oct 2019 31 Comments
in quote, Uncategorized, worship Tags: apples, autumn, cornstalks, leaves, pumpkins, squirrel, tumbleweeds, wind
do you know what the earth meditates upon in autumn?
when north wind breathes fresh worship
over cornfield of heavy stalks bowed down
as ripe apples bless orchard with abundance
and tumbleweeds dance across rural road?
when crispy leaves gather in harvest pile
over rich soil fully yielded to waning sun
as pumpkins swell with orange-ribbed grace
and squirrel chatters praise for scattered nuts?
do you know what the earth meditates upon in autumn?
The beginning (and ending) question is from Pablo Neruda’s El Libro de las Preguntas.
miniature intricacies
15 Oct 2019 Leave a comment
in haiku, senryu, Uncategorized Tags: bees, cicada, fears, monster, worker
specimen in jar
face to face with monster fears
cicada sheds skin
bee helpful, bee kind
bee industrious worker
pollinate goodness
– photos & haiku by lynn; linked to CDHK‘s “little creature” prompt
dragonfly
06 Oct 2019 2 Comments
drones hover and hum
flit above late summer crops
predator pilots
observe stealth landing
“what is it, grandma?” child asks
investigation
photo by lynn
autumn’s ambassador
30 Sep 2019 13 Comments
in haibun, Uncategorized Tags: autumn, farm, grove, hope, insects, lawnmower, monarch
It’s haibun Monday at dVerse Poets where we’re writing about insects!
I bounce along, riding the lawnmower around our farm site. It’s windy and warm today…excellent weather for drying the crops for the imminent harvest. We’re glad for the silage we’ve already chopped for our livestock. Cows galumph toward the fence when I stop to toss the fallen apples I gathered for them.
While mowing in our grove, I am discouraged to note many trees show signs of stress. Both ash and spruce host invasive insects that bore into exposed spaces in their bark. An epidemic infestation across the nation appears to have arrived here. Time will tell if it’s lethal for these trees we planted many years ago and nurtured to a protective and glorious expanse.
While fretting about insects destroying our grove, I’m surprised by a singular monarch butterfly that flits ahead of me, leading the way. It flutters into my vision as I pass by again and again. Like a shimmer of hope, it gently clings to a leafy branch. Stunning creature with delicate legs and designer wings sent to lighten my mind in a moment of serendipity.
monarch messenger
flashes autumn’s joyful hues
arresting beauty
waiting on gardener
27 Sep 2019 16 Comments
my life is a ripe pumpkin
connected to the earth
growing green from the
hard work of soil where
i put down roots to vine
out from the tender shoot
of youth into fruitful years,
orange and mellow with
graced blessings, full;
yet, intermingled with the
photo by lynn
seeds of good intentions
hidden inside me, ooze
slimy memories strung
with sticky emotions; sin.
i desire to be cleaned up,
hollowed out of my muck
and filled with radiant light;
though the carving might
be painful, i will wear a
genuine smile on my face,
aglow with true wisdom.
Linking to Bjorn’s metaphor challenge at dVerse Poets’ pub: “Meeting the Bar”. My poem’s theme inspired by children’s book: The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs.
kafka for kids?
26 Sep 2019 6 Comments
in rhyming verse, Uncategorized Tags: bullies, bureaucracy, education, humpty dumpty, identity, kids
“I do not see the world at all; I invent it.” from The Diaries of Franz Kafka, 1910-1923. Link to dVerse poetics hosted by Amaya this week.
Beware the yellow school bus
with cheery windows bright
it threatens to take all of us
and re-educate us right!
Leave your mama & your papa
watch your family disappear
bureaucracy will dictate how
we spend each school year
Bullies learn from Darwin
it’s survival of the fittest
teachers hear from Kinsey
pedophiles are hippest
Identity is how you feel
(forget biology)
kick God out, he isn’t real
(fascist philosophy)
Unicorns and mermaids
rewrite history after all
fluff mis-education may
result in Humpty’s fall
Everyone’s a victim
disenchantment is the rule
let’s politicize the system
then send adults to school!
reformation needed
18 Sep 2019 4 Comments
desperate pilgrims
risked medieval roads and thieves
hoping to be saved
worst thief was catholic church
selling salvation for gold
Canterbury Tales
Not sure if church commentary is appropriate for a tanka but the true church of Christ should always be re-forming ourselves according to scripture.
mine walks fine line
11 Sep 2019 6 Comments
in rhyming verse, Uncategorized Tags: alpacas, doves, mental health, palm tree, stigma, zoo
in
sanity’s measured continuum
continue to march to drum
did you know alpacas hum?
so
hum to yourself like alpacas do
they won’t bite, but will you?
if howl growl, put me in “zoo”
to
write bright fantastical poetry
under plastical poet’s tree, see?
inflated palm lights-up for free
on
this blog written by “mad hatter”
a pinch of craziness won’t matter
just stir into my pancake batter
as
flapjacks flip, overturn life’s game
healthy dis-ease is recovery’s aim
let go of stigma and false shame!
(give freudian therapy all the blame)
Poeming with Laura at dVerse about mental health. I admire my family members who’ve lived bravely through mental illness to recovery. NAMI is a national organization in the U.S.that offers resources and support!
a poem in my pocket 
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